Gas pressure measuring



Aug. l1, 1953 M. J. COHEN GAS PRESSUE MEASURING Filed Ooi. 14, 1950 attorney Patented ug.

GS ifItE'sfsiiRE Cohellaricetonr. .ia assisn ns Corporation of America, a corporation of A. e Y U, iv-HH. 4N 'Irhis invention `-relates to'` t improvernentsl in methods of and apparatus forgas pressure meas: urine', and particularly to improved gas' pressure measuringl techniques utilizing. the space-charge:

neutralizing eict'sof gas ions on an electron 5 It is, of course, well known that electrons im: pinging onigas ,moleculesnanl ca'use ionization thereof vunder suitable conditions; UThisA .phe-

nomenon has. been usedextensively..for'gaslpress 10 sure measuring by means of so-called ionization gauges.`

Inga'n ordina/ryiionization gauge, can.J electron current is passed, between. .two electrodes immersed in the, gas tube. measured to;caus`eion.,- M 15 ization thereof;v A third electrode .is.immersed' in the gasand maintained at'anegativelpotential to collect ions, with theion current being measured as a measure ofrthe..,gaspressure.....While this arrangement is" satisfactory fors'ome hap.- 20

plications,X various factos,'.,s`uch as.leakage.,cur rents flowing to,.tl`ie. ion collectingelectrodeA and the decreasing magnitude of..`ion'currentswith' decreasing gas pressuraset. av relatively. high minimum on the gas pressures than can beimeas-.f 25

uredj irl this way. It' is, vtherefore, kang'eneral object .of the present `inve'ntionl .td provide; ,arr improved vgasimeasuring vmethod t and.' apparatus, which involves" a.. gas Lionization. principle, but' which avoids many of the ,limitations ofthe conventional ionizatibnga'uge'.; L,

A more specic object of the inventioneis the.` provision of ani improved ionization.' method .of and apparatus. for, ,gas,..pressufe measuring wherein measurements canbe made by study .of

anelectron current rather than anion'current'. 35

In accordance, with then invention, .the fore goingand other relatediobjfect's and advantages'Uv are attained by Iutilizir'ig ions of the'lgas being. measured to neutralize 'space charge eiects'in an electronvibeam.' More. specifically', -the spacerV 40" charge neutralizing ions are. p'eriodiallyiremoved. from the electron beam to cause dispersal thereQfl. As will be shownhereinafter, resultant changes; in electron currentsiiowing to onegor moreoik the electrontubeelectrodes thenhcan bev meas- 45 ured as .a'measure ofy gas4 pressure... 4 1

Amore ,:Qmplete understandine-oith, in@ tion can be hadby referenceto the.folloyving` description off an; illustratiyeembodiment there.; K

of, when consideredin Aconnection with"the ac- 5o companying drawing, Ywherein :A

Figure lois -arpariiallr rsrsceiitivaifiriilli, schematic yiew. if a Igars pressure measuriifignap.;l p

paratus embodying "th principles of the inyention, 55

shown fa beamaofaeiect far4 descr tube suitable for useiin an. apparatus such as .is-

shownin Fig,y 1.-,.althoughldifferng structurally from the tubeshow'nlin Figalwand-nw f 1 Figure 4,1isva .circuitV .diagram illustrating-V the.

u'seofvthetubeshownrin Fig. 3 in practicing the principles `of. the inventionbl r f y Referring to.Fig. `l auf the-M fdrawing-, theren electrons, .shownl in zbroken linescan.;Kbendrawn from .a.,cathode t2 ...and projected .throughfanA acceleratongridl I4 towardlan, apertureplt .in ai. shieldl electrode i8. Jn back ofathe aperturehi there is placed hanollectori.electrode- 2,0, -while .a cylindrical electrode .ZL-extendsralong the space A between the gridslsandthershield :Hit 1 Inside i the M cylinden 2li.. Q@an r :auxiliary J disc.n

shaped electrode 23 is Lplaced.l between :the grid l 4 andi the shield LB., and has aentral opening 25much largerathan the cross-sectional area of theg electron beamw x c 4A voltage sourcajshownpas a, battery 22,;-is connected tor make respect to the catho, The ptherlelectrodes I 8, 2 0,; 2 l., 2.3V normally, are-kept at substantiall the-samepotential as theigridcl. i i

YThe cathode l l? anda-the aridi Haare in `the `Shape ,oid sections :oft-spherical.fsurfaces Y. having their, erltersuof`- eurvaturejiat; the center. or .the Shield aperture 116,-.. ,.:lhuswheh voltage isapr.

plied between the feudal and cethQde-i-izt: as

nowingrrqm the., athodgjftnrougn the grid m andy towardjthe shield; a er Y ,.rs'of atethe Shield r.- the-lconditions thus ibed,"only a par emission currentryould passthrolughf the aperf tuiejzjis' toi the beliebter., 2o. *i ,triest of, trie,

beam current would bewintercepted by' the shield la. If there are gas molecules in the tube lil, some li will be @Stab Sheet-z i. v Space` Verse ,the bbeam which1 l t of "the total cathode.. I

of these molecules will be struck by electrons in the beam, creating positive ions. If these positive ions are allowed to remain in the area between the grid I4 and the shield I8, they will have the effect of neutralizing or offsetting the electron-created space charge. This neutralization will reduce the dispersing or defocusing effect of the space charge, so that less electron current will ow to the shield I8 and more electron current will flow to the collector 20.

It can be seen that the space charge neutralization just described will be effective only if the ions can remain in the grid-shield space A. If this spa-ce A is substantially field-free (i. e. no potential difference between the grid I4 and the shield I8), then the ions will be trapped therein.

Even at the lowest gas pressures attainable, the electron current through the aperture I6 under conditions of space-charge-neutralization is independent of gas pressure. Therefore, a vmeasurement of collector current, as such, ordinarily will not provide an indication of gas pressure in the tube I0. However, it has been found that if the ions are swept out of the normally field free space A, the time required for space-chargeneutralization to be reestablished (i. e., the ion build-up time) will be a function of gas pressure in the tube IS. In accordance with the present invention, this phenomenon is utilized as a basis for the measurement of gas pressure.

In the specific apparatus illustrated in Fig. l, a source of negative voltage pulses 2t is connected to the auxiliary electrode 23. A current measuring devi-ce, such as a milliammeter 2S, is connected in circuit with the collector electrode 20. In Fig. 2, there is shown on a common time base the waveform E of the voltage pulses applied to the auxiliary electrode 23, and the collector current waveform 1p1 and Ipz for two clifferent gas pressures p1 and p2. 1

Referring to Fig. 2, waveform E shows the auxiliary voltage dropping suddenly at time t1. At that instant, the collector current also drops sharply as ions are drawn from the spaceAA in the tube I of Fig. l. At this time, the collector current will be a space-charge-limited current. Thereafter, the collector current waveform will follow a path determined by the gas pressure. Thus, for some given pressure p1, the collector current will increase along a line 1p1, until new ions have neutralized the space charge (at time t2) For a lower gas pressure pz, the collector current will rise more slowly along a line Ipz between the times i1 and t3. It is this time interval (t1-t2 or ti-tgl that Varies with and indicates the gas pressure. Observation of the collector current waveform, as with an oscilloscope or the like, can be used as a measure of the time required for new ions to form, and hence, a measure of the gas pressure. However, the oscilloscope pattern is not always convenient or easy to interpret. Therefore, it is deemed preferable to measure the average electron currentflowing to the collector 20 (or to the shield IS). It canv be seen by examination of Fig. 2 that the average Value of the currents represented by the waveforms Ipi and Ipz will vbe different. Therefore, these average current values, as indicated by the meter 2B, will be indicative of the pressure in the tube I0.

In a typical case, the tube IB will be connected through a conduit I3 ,to a pressurized or evacuated system in which the pressure is to beA measured.

As was stated, it has been found that extremely small quantities of gas in the tube I0 will provide space charge neutralization. This means, of course, that the change from space charge limited to space charge neutralized current will be as apparent at very low pressures as it will at higher pressures. Therefore, accurate measurements can be made, in accordance with the invention, at much lower pressures than with more conventional ionization gauges.

It should be noted that the auxiliary electrode 23 is no-t essential to successful practice of the invention. For example, the grid E4 could receive the negative ion-elimination pulses. However, the use of the auxiliary electrode 23 is deemed preferable as it will offer a higher impedance to the pulse generator 24 than would the grid I4. That is, the auxiliary electrode 23 will only have to collect the ions to cause the electron beam to defocus. On the other hand, a negative pulse applied to the grid I4 would have to lreduce the potential on the grid which collects a part of the electron beam. The lower grid potential would cause less current to flow, and the excess ions in the beam would disperse. When the grid potential is restored the beam would be defocussed.

While the tube III shown in Fig. 1 will operate satisfactorily, it has one feature which may pro-Ve objectionable under some circumstances. In eeneral, it is customary to use oxide-coated surfaces for cathodes having comparatively large emitting surfaces such as the cathode I 2. Unfortunately, an oxide coated cathode will not stand up well under ion bombardment, and although it is contemplated that most of the ions will be generated in the ion-trapping space A, some positive ions also will be generated in the cathodegrid space. These ions will be attracted to and bombard the negatively polarized cathode I2, and may cause rather rapid deterioration thereof at pressures above, say, IIl-3 millimeters Hg. Also, it is important to be able to open the gauge to atmospheric pressure withou poisoning the cathode.

An electron emitter which is much better adapted to withstand ion bombardment `and exposure to atmospheric pressure is the so-called thoriated tungsten filament. In Fig. 13 there is shown a top cross section view o-f an electron -beam tube in which a thoriated tungsten emitter can be used.

The tube shown in Fig. 3 comprises a filamentary cathode 32, surrounded by rst and second grid structures, 34 and 36, respectively, and a cylindrical anode 38, all within an envelope 40. The grid vstructures 34, 36 may comprise either wire meshes or spiral wires, the only requirement being that the individual wires of the grids be aligned so that the wires of the second grid 35 are shaded from the cathode 32 by the wires of the rst grid 3A. This is shown 4at point B in Fig. 3 where the grid wires have been enlarged to clarify the illustration. `If the two grids 34,- 35 are kept normally at substantially the same potential to provide an ion trapping space therebetween, electrons willlow in beams from the cathode 32 toward the anode 38 as shown at B in 4 Fig. 3. Due to the shading effect provided by the first grid 34, very few electrons will strike the second grid 35 as long as there areionspresent to provide space charge neutralization- However, if these neutralizing ions are removed,

then the electron paths will diverge after passv V ingthe first grid 34, so that many more electrons includes the steps of continuously collecting the electrons in a predetermined cross sectional area of said electron beam to develop an electron current and measuring the average value of said co1- lected electron current,

10. In a method of gas pressure measuring wherein an electron beam isrpassed 'through the gas to be measured to produce ions of gas and wherein the gas ions so produced remain in the path of the beam thereby increasing the density of the beam, the steps of periodically eliminating said ions from said beam path to cause the electrons in the beam to diverge from said path due to the mutually repelling effect of said electrons, and measuring the time required for generation of new ions to neutralize said repelling effect as a measure of said gas pressure.

11. In a method of gas pressure measuring, the steps of generating a beam of electrons, directing said beam through the gas to be measured thereby 20 creating ions ofsaid gas, periodically removing said ions from the path of said beam, and measuring the average density of a predetermined' cross-sectional portion of said beam.

12. In a method of measuring the gas pressure in an electron tube of the type having a plurality of electrodes including electrodes for generating a beam of electrons and an electron collecting electrode in lthe path of said beam, the steps of generating a beam of electrons in said tube to ionize said gas, periodically removing the ions so generated from said tube, measuring the average electron current owing to one of said electrodes, and varying the period between removals of said ions to maintain said measured current at a constant value.

MARTIN J. COHEN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,501,702 Varian Mar. 28, 1950 2,516,704 Kohl July 25, 1950 

